Cut-off-operating engine and valve mechanism.



No. 756,831. PATENTED APR. 12, 1904. P. B. CLARKE.

CUT-OPE OPERATING ENGINE AND VALVE MEGHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILEDJAN. 4. 1901. RBNBWED PEB, 9. 1904.

N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1.111111.: 1in; A

c wn umm Punks w. mumfumo,4 wnswucmn, u

No'. 756,831. PATENTED APR. 12, 1904. P. B. CLARKE.

GUT-OFP OPERATING ENGINE AND VALVE MECHANISM. PPLIoATIoN FILED JAN. 4, 1901. RENEWED rms. 9. 1904. No nonni.. 3 snnE'rs-sn1-2.

No. 750,801. PATENTBD J1111.12, 1904. P. B. GLARKE.

CUT-OFF OPERATING ENGINE AND VALVE MECHANISM.

APPLIGATIoN FILED JAN. 4, 1001. RENEWBD PEB. 9. 1004. No 11011111.. s SHEETS-sanma.

Flg. 4.

TN: Nonms PETERS co. Movoumc.. wAsmNpToN, u. c.

UNTTED STATES Patented April 12, 1904.

' PEETE B. CLARKE, or NEW YORK, N. r.

CUT-OFF-OFERATING ENGINE AND VALVE NIECHANISIVI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. I756,831, dated April 12, 1904.

Application le. January 4,1901. Renewed February 9, 1904. Serial No. 192,846. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, PEETE B. CLARKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county oi' New York and State of New York, have invented anew and useful Cut-Off- Operating'Engine and Valve Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a cylinder and valve mechanism for operating sliding doors or cut-oifs for controlling the discharge of material.

The object oi' the present invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and eilcient cylinder and valve mechanism designed for actuating sliding doors or cut-offs for controlling the flow oi' material from loins or compartments and adapted to be connected with a rock-shaft i'or oscillating the same and capable after the valve has been set for admitting steam at either end of the cylinder oi' automatically cutting ott' the steam at the end of the stroke of the piston whereby after the valve has been once set to operate the cylinder it may be left unattended.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cushioning device for resisting the movement of the piston to enable the cut-os or sliding doors to be actuated at the desired speed.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are vertical sectional views of a cut-of-operating cylinder and valve mechanism constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View of a barge, illustrating the arrangement of the cut-oii-operating cylinder and valve mechanism. Fig. t is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of a barge.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures ot` the drawings.

1 designates a barge designed to be provided with a longitudinal series of bins or compartments 2, and each bin or compartment 2 is provided at its bottom with a series of depending hoppers 4, having sliding doors or cut-offs 5, adapted to be opened to permit coal or other material to be discharged from the bin o1' compartment into buckets of an endless conveyer. (Not shown.) The sliding door 5 is provided at one side with a pair of depending ears arranged at opposite sides of the inner end of a link 15 and pivoted to the same, and the said link 15 extends outward to an arm 16, loosely mounted on a longitudinal rock-shaft 17 and adapted to be coupled thereto and uncoupled therefrom, whereby the sliding doors or cutois are adapted to be operated independently of one another,so that one or more of them may be opened and closed when the shaft 17 is rocked. :Each of the arms 16 of the rockshaft is provided with a clutch-face 29, adapted to interlock with a corresponding clutch-face of a sliding clutch-section 30, whereby the arm 16 is coupled to the longitudinal rock-shaft. The rock-shaft 17, which is located at one side of the barge, extends longitudinally thereof, and the clutch-sections 30, which are keyedor otherwise secured to the rock-shafts and which rotate with the same, are adapted to slide on the said shaft 17 to interlock with the arm 16 and to release the latter, Each clutch-section 30 is provided with an annular groove 30a, which is engaged by suitable lugs or projections of a yoke 32, that is pivoted to an inner arm 34 of a transversely-disposed rock-shaft nected overlapped adjacent ends of the sections of the operating-rod are engaged by coiled springs 39, adapted to permit a limited independent movement of the sections 37 and 38. The upper section 37 is provided with `ad swiveled handle or grip 40, having a shank l1 arranged in a suitable opening or slot or' the IOO deck and provided with a lng or iiange 42, adapted to project beyond the opening when turned transversely thereof, whereby the operating-rod is held in an elevated position. When the operating-rod is drawn upward, the transversely-disposed rock-shaft is partially rotated, andthe inner arm thereof is swung in the direction of the adjacent arm 16, and the clutch-section is coupled with the hub of the said arm 16. The clutch-section 30 is provided with suitable lugs or projections to engage corresponding recesses of the clutch-face of the hub of the arm 16, and if the recesses of the hub should be out of alinement with the lugs or projections of the clutch-section the coiled springs 39 will permit the upper section of the operating-rod to be raised suffieiently to lock it, and it will cause the clutchsection 30 to spring into engagement with the clutch-face of the arm 16 when the longitudinal rock-shaft is rotated and the' recesses are brought into alinement with the lugs or projections.

The rear end of the longitudinal rock-shaft 17 is provided with an arm 43, extending outward and upward, asv clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings, when the door is closed and connected with a vertically-movable piston 44 of a vertical steamcylinder 45 by Vertical links 46. When the piston-rod is moved downward, the longitudinal rock-shaft will be oscillated, and the sliding doors or eut-offs, with which the rockshaft is connected by the said arms 16, will be opened. The vertically-movable piston 44 is provided with a piston-head 47, arranged within the cylinder 45, which is provided at one side with a vertical steam-chest 48, disposed vertically and having a vertically-reciprocating tubular slide-valve 49 within it. The ends of the vertically-disposed cylinder 45 are connected with the ends of the steamchest by upper and lower ports 50 and 51, and the vertically-movable slide-valve is provided with a reduced central portion located between enlarged ends of the slide-valve and providing an annular recess adapted when the slide is at the limit of its movement in either direction to establish a communication between the steam-chest and one end of the cylinder 45 to admit steam above or below the piston-head. The tubular slide-valve is provided with upper and lower ports or apertures 52 and 53, adapted to register alternately with the said ports 50 and 51 to establish a communication between the interior of the cylinder and the interior of the tubular Y slide-valve to permit the steam to exhaust as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings, to cover the upper and lower ports 50 and 51 to shut off the steam from both ends of the cylinder 45. rlhe vertically-reciprocating tubular slide-valve is adapted to be moved upward or downward from the position illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, where the imperforate portions 49 and 49b cover the upper and lower ports 50 and 51. When the piston-head is at the upper end of the cylinder, as shown in Fig. 1, the tubular slide-valve is raised by the means hereinafter described, to the position illustrated in Fig. 2 to admit steam to the upper end of the cylinder 45 and to exhaust from the lower end of the same, and after the piston has completed its downward movement or at the completion of the same the tubular slidevalve will, by the means hereinafter described,

be returned to the intermediate position (shown in Fig. 1) to cut off the steam from both ends of the cylinder` 45. The piston is connected with the slide-valve and is adapted to return the same to its intermediate position in order that the operator, after actuatiing the operating mechanism hereinafter described, may leave the steam-cylinder unattended. l

rl`he upper end of the tubular slide-valve is connected with a reciprocating vertically-disposed rod or stem 54, pivoted to a lever 55 and connected by the latter with the rod of the piston of the cylinder 45 and with the operating mechanism. The upper end of the piston-rod is provided with a horizontal guide 56. consisting of a block or head secured to the piston-rod and extending horizontally therefrom and provided with an opening 56a, extending inward from the outer end of the block or head and receiving a pin or pivot 55a of the lever 55. The pin or pivot 55 is arranged at one end of the lever 55, and the valve stem or rod 54 is connected with thelatter near the other end thereof, which is pivoted to the lower end of-a rod 57, which extends upward to a bell-crank lever 58. rIhe bellcrank lever 58 is connected by a horizontal rod 59 with an operating-lever 60, designed to be mounted on the barge at the deck thereof and adapted to be swung upward and downward to reciprocate the slide-valve to move it from its intermediate position to admit steam above or below the piston-head to rock the longitudinal shaft 17 and slide the doors or cut-offs 5. When the slide-valve is moved in, either direction by the said operating mechanism, its position is changed, and steam is admitted to the cylinder 45 to actuate the piston. The reciprocation of the piston oscillates the lever 55, which is connected with the slide- Valve and which carries the same to its inter- IOO IIO

mediate position to automatically shut off the steam. The valve stem or rod is mounted-in' the tubular slide-valve and is suitably secured to a spider or frame 54d thereof, as clearly illustrated in Figs. l and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

In order to cushion and control the movement of the piston, the latter is provided with a supplemental piston-head 207 of less diameter than the piston-head 47, and the said piston-head 207 is arranged within a superimposed auxiliary cylinder 206, connected with the cylinder 41:5 by a cylindrical supportingshell 206, suitably secured to and interposed between the cylinders 45 and 206. The ends of the auxiliary cylinder are provided withupper and lower ports 20Gb and 206C, which are connected bya passage 208, preferably consisting' of a tube, and provided at the center with a controlling-valve 209 for constricting the longitudinal passage 208. The auxiliary cylinder is filled with a suitable cushioningliquid, such as oil, and when the piston 44k is reciprocated its movement is resisted by the oil or other liquid within the auxiliary cylinder, which liquid is forced from the cylinder at one end through the longitudinal passage or conduit 208 to the other end of the cylinder. By regulating the controlling-valve 209 the desired cushioning action and the necessary resistance to the reciprocation of the vertically-movable piston may be obtained. Instead of employing a longitudinal pipe or tube to form the longitudinal passage or conduit Q08 any other suitable construction may be provided. The steam and auxiliary cylinders are provided with suitable stuf'ting-boxes, and they may be secured to the cylindrical supporting-shell in any suitable manner.

It will be seen that the cutoff-operating cylinder and valve mechanism are simple and comparatively inexpensive in construction, that they are positive and reliable in operation, and that the movement or reciprocation of the piston is cushioned and retarded to prevent injury to the parts with which the piston is connected, and that the steam is autornatically cut ofil from the cylinder when the piston completes its reciprocation, so that the operating mechanism after being' actuated may be left unattended.

I/Vhat I claim is- In a device of the class described, the combination with a steam-cylinder, of a steamchest provided with ports in communication with the cylinder, a valve disposed in said steam-chest, a piston in the cylinder, a pistonrod connected to said piston, a valve-stem connected to the valve, a guide-block carried by the piston-rod and provided with a slot extending transversely of the piston-rod, a floating lever having one end adjustably connected to the slotted block and pivotally connected to the valve-stein, and an adjustable valve-operating means connected to said floating lever and forming when adjusted to either position, a fixed fulcrum for said lever to thereby permit the closing of the valve by the movement of the piston and its rod.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aiixed my signature in the presence ofV two witnesses.

PEETE B. CLARKE.

Witnesses:

Jol-1N FRENCH, CHARLES ENGEL. 

